Page 46 of Vampire's Vixen

“Hi, I’m wondering—do you do house blessings? I just bought a new home and I’d like to have it cleansed and blessed before I move in,” she said.

“I can do that. I charge $150 for blessings, $200 for cleansings unless something shows up that I have to exorcise or put extra time into.” I had come up with the prices on the fly.

I waited for her to answer. I’d learned never to reach for my calendar before they were ready to commit because it put unwanted pressure on the client, and they more often than not backed out. If I waited for them to decide, though, they usually booked a time with me.

“If you need to invest extra time, but I don’t have the extra money to pay for it, can you just leave it at a general house cleansing?” she asked.

“I could, though I wouldn’t guarantee it would work if there are firmly entrenched entities there,” I said. “I can come out and get a feel for the house first, if you like—while it won’t guarantee that something won’t come up as we get into the cleansing, I’m usually pretty adept at spotting latent problems.”

“That would be great,” she said. “Can I book you for mid-March?”

“What about…March twelfth? It’s a Saturday, which might make it easier for you, unless you work on the weekends? At one p.m.?”

“That works for me,” she said. “My name is Andrea Shale. What do you want for a deposit?”

“One hundred, which is refundable up until March tenth at noon.”

She handed me her credit card.

I printed out the receipt and handed it to her. “I’ll contact you in a couple weeks to make sure we’re still on.”

“Thanks,” she said, waving as she headed for the door.

The readings and booking the house cleansing put me in a better mood. At least I felt like I was attracting some business. It suddenly occurred to me that I’d have a bigger business if I opened up Married At First Bite to become a dating service as well as a matchmaking service, but I wasn’t quite ready to go that far.

At home, Astra was on the phone, ordering takeout. She waved as I headed toward my room to dress for my date with Kyle. I wasn’t sure what to wear—I didn’t know if this was a real date. We were in that weird place where couples find themselves before they know if they really like each other well enough to date. I decided on a brown skirt, a hunter green turtleneck, and a pair of knee-high brown leather boots. I freshened my makeup, brushed my hair, and headed back downstairs.

Astra glanced at me and smiled. “You look lovely, dear. Are you meeting him, or will he pick you up?”

“I’m meeting him. I’ll be at Flora’s. Here’s hoping it goes well.” I paused, then said, “I think I really like him, Auntie.”

“I think you do, too. Have a good dinner,” she said, waving as I grabbed my jacket and keys.

Flora’s was an upscale seafood restaurant that had a cozy, ambient atmosphere, but served gourmet quality seafood, as well as the standard fish and chips, chowder, and calamari. I stopped at the hostess stand.

“I’m meeting someone—” I paused as Kyle entered the restaurant.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said. “I got caught in traffic.”

“Hey, you’re here now,” I said. “Plus, I just got here.”

He turned to the waitress. “Kyle Frost, reservation for two.”

I was surprised when Kyle gave the hostess his name. Midnight Point was small enough that the restaurants usually didn’t need reservations, but he had made one anyway.

As the hostess led us to our table, the smells from the kitchen made my stomach rumble. I blushed, but laughed.

“I guess I’m hungrier than I thought,” I said, patting my tummy.

“So am I,” Kyle said. He pulled out my chair for me, and I gave him a smile and sat down. “This was a good suggestion,” he said.

“I’ve been here twice,” I said, uncertain of what to say now that we weren’t being chased by a monster.

Kyle must have been feeling the same because he laughed. “So, what do we talk about now that things are relatively normal?”

I grinned at him. “I’m not sure. Did you make the complaint to Principal Morrison?”

“I did. If you hear anything, let me know. I tell you, Jason Willows is fucked up. That field trip was a disaster waiting to happen.”

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